lies on his back, alternately snoring and demeaning his wife`s infatuation with Bogart and Bergman. The characters are gay, he insists, before he rolls back into his sleep.

But this kind of banter is the very basis of their love. Oscar is the worker, a self-employed carpenter committed to building and refinishing only the finest woods. He sees himself as a responsible provider with a witty but down-to-earth view of the world.

Ester is the housemaid. She doesn`t do very much with her days and she has developed an acute dependency on the soap-opera dramas between the heroes and heroines of the tube.

But their relationship has endured and, for the most part, they seem to be quite enchanted with each other.

On a particularly beautiful afternoon, Ester visits the ancient sculpture gardens of Bomarzo with her longtime friend Adele (Luisa De Santis). There they learn that the garden is a gathering place for lesbians. Suddenly--and much too abruptly as far as the development of the story is concerned--Ester begins to lust after her close friend. In her breathless manner, and with her beauty, she tries to sell Adele on the idea of an affair.

For Ester, falling in love with Adele holds all of the danger and intrigue of her favorite movies. Her marriage to Oscar, and their trust, immediately begins to disintegrate, and in a fit of rage, Ester informs her husband that she is in love with someone else.

Oscar does not take the news very well. He is ablaze with jealousy and anger. He absolutely must know whom his wife wants to be with. Is he black? Is he rich? Is he tall?

The interrogation begins.

With swelling anger, Oscar trails his wife and even enlists Adele`s help to uncover the identity of Ester`s lover. Once again Wertmuller displays her talent for casting leading male actors with tremendous range and talent.

Oscar`s emotions fluctuate between rage and depression. He rampages against womankind and accuses his best friends of sleeping with his wife. But he is a man who tries to battle his loss of pride and his hurt with humor and even occasional sensitivity to Ester`s desires. And he is so good an actor that as the story evolves, and he discovers that Adele is the object of his wife`s affections, we are not sure which side of him will win out.

This is a hilarious film. As in Wertmuller`s best works--such as ``Seven Beauties`` and ``Swept Away``--good and evil, black and white, and in this case, Ester`s fantasies and the fallout in her relationship with Oscar, intermingle with superb complexity. (The title, which translates literally as ``Under . . . Under,`` implies ``subtlety.``)

When Ester casts her final glance at Adele, one senses that what she wanted from her friend was some form of emancipation from the kitchen and not just another television high. And in Oscar we have a character who, after all his violence and screaming is done, just might understand this.

``SOTTO . . . SOTTO``

(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)

Mini-review: The trouble with lust

Directed by Lina Wertmuller; written by Enrico Oldoini and Wertmuller, based on a story by Wertmuller; photographed by Dante Spinotti; edited by Luigi Zita; music by Paolo Conte; produced by Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori. A Triumph Films release at the Lake Shore Theatre. Rated R.